As the density of integrated circuit (IC) devices continues to increase, the number and density of input/output (I/O) connections between the die and the pins of the integrated circuit device continue to increase. A ball grid array (BGA) is an advanced integrated circuit package comprising a substrate having contacts on the bottom for soldering the integrated circuit package to a circuit board. A wire bond BGA comprises a die having contact pads which are bonded to contact pads on the surface of the substrate by way of wire bonds. In contrast, a flip chip BGA comprises a die having contact pads which are directly bonded to the substrate using solder bumps. Unlike in a wire bond BGA, the die having solder bumps is flipped over and placed face down in a flip chip BGA, with the solder bumps connecting directly to corresponding contact pads on the top surface of the substrate. The contact pads on the bottom of the substrate of either type of package are ultimately soldered to a circuit board using solder balls.
However, as both the density of the circuitry and the amount of circuitry for a given integrated circuit continue to increase, the size of the integrated circuit package and the noise associated with circuit continue to be a concern for designers. While a concern in an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), unwanted noise is a particular problem in programmable devices, such as a programmable logic device (PLD), because of the simultaneous switching output (SSO) of digital circuits of PLDs. A PLD, such as a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) or a Complex Programmable Logic Device (CPLD), is an integrated circuit designed to be programmed by users so that users may implement logic designs of their choices. The size of an integrated circuit, such as a PLD, is also a concern.